Okay, Penny Dreadful...I watched the episode with the Grand Guignol backstage stuff, and it was good. In fact, all the Frankenstein monster scenes were good. And that white, hairless creature with fangs that Fenton called "Master" -- that was Dracula? Not the way he's usually portrayed, is it? But the scenes of Dorian Gray in the Botanical Gardens were a big yawn. Why was all that necessary?

So, having been partially indoctrinated, I watched the new episode last night and was drawn in completely. That long, continuous backstory was as horrible as it was enlightening. It's one thing to read about the "treatment" of mental illness in Victorian times but quite another to see it acted out. Yep, it all got to me. I'll be back for more.

I thought the new clone in Orphan Black was a real misstep. The character was completely unconvincing and made me too aware that I was watching people acting. I couldn't keep up my willing suspension of disbelief.

After all these years, I can still remember the gripping ending of the first episode of Hill Street Blues, with Hill and Renko getting shot. Or am I actually misremembering that?

Leonore just learned that the actor who played Bobby Hill was a high-school classmate of hers. They moved in different circles (he was a popular kid, jock, and school president) and she didn't make the connection until she was speaking to someone about her upcoming 50th reunion. We're going to the reunion, but I suspect that Bobby Hill isn't.

Was the shooting at the end of the episode? I seem to remember it ended with the revelation that the police captain and the public defender, adversaries at work, were secret bedmates at night. But that was a long time ago...memory can play tricks.